The song may not be entirely new. There is evidence that “Lemon” was at least partially recorded dating back to 2015. This includes social media posts from Rihanna and Pharrell such as Rihanna sharing a bikini photo on Instagram (January 3, 2015) with the caption, “Tell da paparazzi get the lens right.”. Just over a month later, Pharrell shared his own Instagram post with almost the same caption: “Tell tha paparazzi get tha lens right. “ This theory was confirmed in N.E.R.D.’s interview on Pharrell and Scott Venor’s iamOTHER program on Beats 1 radio. Pharrell claims that the original beat and second half of the track was made for Puffy, then passed to Rihanna before they decided to keep the track for their own album.

What have the artists said about the song?

What was the lead-up to N.E.R.D.'s comeback?

Although Pharrell has been prolific in his musical output in the 2010s, N.E.R.D. as a band has been noticeably absent. On Monday October 30, 2017 people started noticing posters around L.A. with their saying, “No One Ever Really Dies”. The Camp Flog Gnaw festival curated by Tyler, The Creator that weekend also featured ads with the same text.

Why 'lemon'?

A ‘lemon’ is a reference to something that turns out to be useless or performing poorly (see definition #5). The term is often used to describe dodgy car purchases (hence Rihanna’s use of car references), but could also be referring to the presidency of Donald Trump (whom Pharrell tried to warn us about).

Who's the actor/dancer in the Music Video?

It’s Mette Towley, who has previously worked with Pharrell before.

In an interview with Fader, she mentioned this about having her hair shaved by Rihanna:

It was really incredible for me as a performer. By the time we got to that scene, I was so ready for my head to be shaved. I had been rehearsing with my hair pulled back, I knew it was coming. For myself, those two scenes — the room, to the swap meet — I knew that I wanted to play that dynamically. I was sitting on that floor and she was shaving my head — I look a little malaised. I think that came from an authentic place like, I’m ready to be transformed through this performance. After, when I looked in mirror, I was like, Wow, this really feels like my internal body and feelings are being reflected in my exterior body. .